Sigismund b



(No Model!) S. B. WORTMANN. GAR BRAKE.

Patented June 9,1891.

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rares PATENT OFFICE.

SIGISMUND B. VORTMANN, 0F N EV YORK, N. Y.

CAR-BRAKE.

ESPECIFICA'EION forming part of Letters Eatent No. 453,790, dated June9, 1891.

Application led April 14, 1891. Serial No. 388,933. (No model.)

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Be it known that I, SIGISMUND B. VORT- MANN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at New York, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Brakes;and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the invention, suoli as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to improvements in car-brakes; and theObjectis to provide a simple and easily operated device adapted toutilize the power or motion of one of the car-axles to forcibly applythe brakeshoes to the wheels, and thereby retard and arrest the motionof the car by a slight exertion on the part of the brakeman or driver.

lVith these and other ends in view my invention consists in thecombination, with a car-axle and a brake-bar carrying thefriction-shoes, of a power-shaft journaled in suitable hangers orbearings on the under side of the car-body, a master gearor pinion rigidwith the car-axle, another gear or wheel loosely fit-ted on thepower-shaft and provided on one side with a serrated hub or shoulder, amovable clutch keyed to the power-shaft and adapted to be shifted toengage the serrated hub of the loose gear on the power-shaft, ahorizontal lever fulcrumed on the bottom of the car and having a bentarm at one end which engages with the sliding or movable clutch and itsother end connected to an upright hand-lever, and a flexible connection,such as a chain, having one end attached to the brake-shoe and its otherend fasten ed to the power-shaft, so as to be wound or coiled thereon assaid power-shaft is rotated.

My invention further consists in the novel combination of devices andpeculiar construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinaftermore fully described and claimed.

To enable others to more readily understand my invention, I haveillustrated the same in the accompanying drawings, in Which- Figure l isa side view of a street or other car, partly broken away to more clearlyshow the operating parts, the section being taken on the vertical planeindicated by the dotted line l 1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a verticaltransverse section through the car-body with the operating parts infront elevation, the section being taken on the plane indicated by thedotted line 2 2 of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a detached detail view of theclutch mechanism, this section being taken on the plane indicated by thedotted line 3 3 of Fig. l.

Like letters of reference denote corresponding parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

In the drawings, A designates the body of a car. B B are the front andrear axles, respectively, and C C', respectively, the wheels on thefront and rear axles B B. (See Fig. l.) All of these parts are of thecommon or any preferred construction, as my improvements are applicableto any kind of street-cars propelled by traction or other power.

In carrying my invention into practice I provide one of the axles of thecar with a master gear or pinion b, and employ a horizontal power-shaftD, situated between the front and rear axles B B of the car, althoughthe particular location of the shaft D is immaterial; but I prefer toarrange the shaft close to the front axle B, with which the power-shaftis designed to be geared, so that the shaft is rotated by the axle whenit is desired to apply the brake. This shaft is loosely journaled insuitable hangers or bearings D, fixed to the bottom of the carb0dy A,and it is thus free to revolve or turn in its bearings.

The power-shaft D carries a loose gearwheel or pinion d and a slidingclutch I. The loose gear-wheel is free to revolve or turn on the shaft,except when it is engaged with the clutch I, to accomplish which purposeI provide a serrated or toothed hub d', which is rigid with the gear dand which projects from the side thereof adjacent to the clutch I, asshown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The clutch is fastened or made rigidwith the power-shaft D by means of a key, spline, or feather t', whichpreferably is rigid with the shaft and fits in a groove or keyway formedin the inner surface of the clutch, and in the face of.

the clutch adjacent to the loose gear-wheel d is provided a series ofteeth or serrations t", adapted to engage the serrations or teeth CZ ofthe loose gear-wheel. In the periphery of the clutch I is formed anannular groove, and

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in this groove loosely fits the bifnrcated or forked arm fon the rearend of the horizontal lever E.

- The horizontal lever E is arranged close to the bottom of thecar-body, and it extends from the front axle B to the frontcar-platform. Said lever is fulcrumed at an intermediate point of itslength, at c', to the bottom of the car-body, and at its front end thelever is connected to an upright hand-lever F, fulcrulned on the frontplatform. The lower end of the upright hand-lever extends through theplatform and has an arm or disk e2, to which the horizontal lever E isconnected, so that the back-and-forth movement of the lever YF willoperate the horizontal le- Ver E to shift the movable clutch, andthereby engage or disengage the said clutch with the loose gear-wheel don the powershaft D. The armfon the rear end of the lever Emay be madeby bcndin g the rear end of said lever at right angles, or said arm maybe separate from the lever E and rigidly fastened thereto in anysuitable manner.

I-I designates the friction or brake shoes, and Gis the brake bar orshaft, which are, as usual, situated at one side of the rear wheels andaxle. This brake shaft or barGis journaled in fixed bearings on thebottom of the carbody, and the shoes or blocks H are connected to theshaft or bar by links or arms g. (See Fig. l.) The manner of supportingthe brake bar or shaft and the construction of the brake is, however,immaterial and may be changed at pleasure.

The shaft G is provided with a rigid arm g, and the power-shaft D isprovided with an eye, which may be welded or otherwise rigidly fastenedto the shaft D, and from the eye on the power-shaft to the arm g leads achain e, or other flexible or rigid connection, thus connecting thebrake-shaft to the power-shaft.

This being the construction of my improved brake, the operation may bebriefly described as follows: Normally the clutch I is free fromengagement with the loose gear-wheel d, and the latter wheel d isrotated on the powershaft I) by meshing with the fixed master gear orpinion b on the front axle. The shaft VD thus remains at rest and thefriction-shoes are free from engagement with the rear wh eels. To applythe friction-shoes it is only necessary for the brakeman or driver tomove the upright hand-lever, when the parts are operated as follows: Thehorizontal lever E is moved by the lever F to throw the clutch I intoengagement with the serrated hub d on the loose gear-wheel d, and thegear-wheel d is thus made rigid with the power-shaft D. The shaft D isthus geared directly to the front axle through the wheels b d, and theshaft thus rotated thereby; and as the shaft D is turned it winds orcoils the chain or connection thereon, which in turn draws the arm gforward and rocks the brake-shaft to apply the friction-shoes H to therear wheels to arrest or retard the motion of the car. It Ywill thus beseen that it is only necessary for the driver or brakeman to operate thelever F to throw the clutch into or out of engagement with the serratedhub on the loose gear, and that the motion or power of the car-axleoperates to forcibly apply the friction-shoes against the rear Wheels C.

I am aware that changes can be made in the form and proportion of partsand details of construction of theY mechanism herein shown and describedas an embodiment of my invention, and I therefore reserve the right tomake such changes and modifications as fairly fall within the scope ofmy invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. In a car-brake, the combination, with an axle and a brake-bar, of asingle power-shaft connected through intermediate devices with thebrakefbalgaloose gear-wheel fitted on said power-shaft and meshing witha fast gear on said axle, a clutch rigid with the power-shaft andadapted to slide thereon into and out of engagement with the loose wheelon said power-shaft, and a horizontal lever loosely connected to saidclutch, as and for the purpose described.

2. In a car-brake, the combination, with an axle and a brake-bar, of asingle horizontal power-shaft loosely geared at all ti mes to said axleand remaining normally at rest, a clutch rigid with said power-shaft andarranged to slide thereon to fasten the gearing rigidly to saidpower-shaft and rotate the latter, and a horizontal lever fulcrumed onvthe bottom of .a car and engaging withsaid clutch to shift the latter,substantially as described.

3. In a car-brake, the combination, with an axle and a brake-bar, of apower-shaft carrying a loose gear which meshes with a xed gear on saidaxle, a sliding clutch keyed to the power-shaft and adapted to engagethe loose gear, a horizontal lever engaging with the clutch, an uprightlever connected to said horizontal lever, and connections intermediateof' the power-shaft and the brake-bar, substantially as described.

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VIIS Y 4. Ina oar-brake, the combination, with an In testimony whereof Iaffix inysignature in l presence of two witnesses.

SIGISMUND B. VORTMANN.

Witnesses:

. HENRY E. COOPER, H. F. BERNHARD.

